Elephant Walk

The scintillating Elizabeth Taylor stars in this lesser-known classic as a young girl from London who falls in love with a tea plantation owner from British Ceylon (current day Sri Lanka). Upon arrival she instantly feels out of place and is forced to adapt to the new culture as well as be in constant awareness of the angry elephant herd. William Dieterle, who also directed The Life Of Emile Zola and Portrait Of Jennie , does a masterful job of bringing a somewhat dark, and almost eerie, undertone to this romance and the setting is one of the most beautiful I've seen with the black and white themed mansion and the gorgeous island scenery.

Corny but fun film of the 50's. Except for her first scene in the bookstore, Liz Taylor looks gorgeous, especially outfitted as she is. Every curve and then some shows. A bit talky at first, but gains momentum as picture goes on. Lush scenery, although some process shots look...well like process. Peter Finch is good as the head of the tea plantation and is a bit ruthless at times. Good guy Dana Andrews shows up as a good romantic interest when needed. Whom will Liz end up with? The elephant stampede at the end is well worth the price of admission. By the way, the DVD transfer is great. Worth a look just to see the 50's style filming..No sex, violence, foul language. OK for the whole family.

A beautiful shopgirl in London is swept off her feet by a millionaire tea plantation owner and soon finds herself married and living with him at his villa in British Ceylon. Although based upon the book by Robert Standish, this initial set-up is highly reminiscent of Hitchock's "Rebecca", with leading lady Elizabeth Taylor clashing with the imposing chief of staff at the mansion and (almost immediately) her own husband, who is still under the thumb of his deceased-but-dominant father. Taylor, a last-minute substitute for an ailing Vivien Leigh, looks creamy-smooth in her high fashion wardrobe, and her performance is quite strong; however, once husband Peter Finch starts drinking heavily and barking orders at her, one might think her dedication to him rather masochistic (this feeling hampers the ending as well). Still, the film offers a heady lot for soap buffs: romantic drama, a bit of travelogue, interpretive dance, an elephant stampede, and a perfectly-timed outbreak of cholera! **1/2 from ****

Although not nearly as ludicrous, this could be seen as Paramount's companion piece to its 'Naked Jungle' from the same year and instead of hordes of killer ants we have herds of marauding pachyderms. The presence of William Dieterle in the director's chair is a definite plus.

Distinct echoes here of 'Rebecca' with Peter Finch and Elizabeth Taylor as Maxim and Mrs. De Winter and Abraham Sofaer as Mrs. Danvers. Ironic indeed that Mr. Finch was Laurence Olivier's protegé as Olivier was prevented by prior commitments from appearing in this. Miss Taylor was replacing the indisposed Vivien Leigh whose interest in Mr. Finch was more than purely professional.

The film itself boasts the customarily splendid Paramount production values, is beautifully shot by Loyal Griggs with a suitably dramatic score by Franz Waxman. Mr. Finch glowers magnificently, Miss Taylor at twenty-two is in the full bloom of her beauty and the always excellent Dana Andrews has a thankless role as 'the other man'. Following his 'greylisting' William Dieterle was to find worthwhile directorial assignments increasingly elusive but he does his very best here with the material at his disposal.

People see films in surprisingly different ways and an earlier reviewer has suggested that the stampeding elephants represent 'resistance to British colonialism.' Yes, well.....

... with Abraham Sofaer as a kinder gentler Mrs. Danvers.

John Wiley (Peter Finch), a Ceylon (Sri Lanka today) planter, is in London. While there he meets and marries a bookstore clerk, Ruth (Elizabeth Taylor) and brings her back to his estate - "Elephant Walk". But once home John begins to change. He seems haunted by the specter of his father, Tom Wiley, a harsh man who built Elephant Walk - named such because it is literally in the path of the historic elephant path to water. John drinks heavily, broods, and parties all night with a bunch of fellow planters, barking at Ruth if she complains. The supervisor of all the servants - Appuhamy - gets up every morning and talks to the grave of John's father, Tom, mentioning that he does not like Ruth, and that her ways are cold and distant. Appuhamy should know because he is cold and distant to Ruth, who only wants to take her place as running the household, but between Appuhamy, her distant husband, and the ghost of her father-in-law she is pretty much ganged up on. So let's also throw in that this movie is somewhat like "Giant " too in that regard.

But a ray of sunshine is the presence of an Elephant Walk foreman, Dick Carver (Dana Andrews) who falls in love with Ruth at first sight. Ruth wants her marriage to work, but between a foreman with bedroom eyes, a very haunted and brooding husband, epidemics and elephants, her path is a hard one. How will this work out? I'd say in a visually spectacular way for the time, yet utterly predictable.

Paramount certainly put energy into designing Liz' fashions. While they were at it they should have maybe put more money into shooting on location. There are shots that are clearly on location in Ceylon. But then they will intersperse those shots with those that are obviously on some Hollywood lot with back projection of the countryside. When Liz and Dana Andrews take a horseback ride through the plantation, the cheesiness of the back projection ventures into Ed Wood territory.

There is an interesting backstory to the making of this film. Apparently Vivien Leigh was originally supposed to have the part of Ruth, but illness prevented it. At age 40 she would have looked almost as odd as the fresh young bride as Liz would have looked in1939 as Scarlet O'Hara given she was seven at the time.

In spite of good performances by the entire cast, the sum of the thing is rather hokey and overwrought. Still, since all but the "tent pole" studio era films made by Paramount are hard to find, I'd say give it a look if it ever comes your way.